Woven fabric



Feb. 16, 1932. w. s. NUTTER WOVEN FABRI 0 Filed June 9, 1951 T H WU NW es mm WW b ATTys.

Patented Feb. 16, 1932 'uNi'rso STATES PATENT OFFICE ml 8. BUTTER, OF SANFORD, ASSIGNOB '10 GOODALL WORSTED CODANY, J OI SANFORD, ELAINE, A CORPORATION OI MAINE woven FABRIC Application fled June 9,

This invention relates to woven fabrics of the general type illustrated in my Patents .No. 1,131,259, March 9, 1915, and No.

1,252,018, January 1, 1918. These patents disclose a woven fabric in which one of the threads, preferably the weft thread, is made wholly or partially of fibres of the An ora fleece includin the so-called kemp res of the fleece. hese kemp fibres are coarser than the other relatively softfibres of the Angora fleece and they are usually a wh1te color and will not readily take a dye. The presence of these kem fibres in the yarn tends to produce a strea appearance in the cloth because of the fact that these fibres are relatively coarse and stiff and are of a light or white color which makes them stand out more or less prominently from the other fibres of the yarn. The patents above referred to describe a fabric in which the warp thread is a two-ply thread formed by twisting together a white strand and a colored strand thus producing a variegated warp thread showing different colors throughout its length which results in breaking up the streaky appearance of the fabric due to the presence of the kemp fibres in the weft thread.

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement on the fabric described in the aboveqnentioned patents in which the fabric is so woven as to be provided with a raised surface that functions not only to give the fabric a pleasing appearance but also to break up the streaky appearance due to the presence of the kemp fibres in the weft threads.

In carrying'out my invention I use for one of the threads of the fabric, preferabl the weft thread, a yarn which is made up 0 or at least contains, the fibres of the Angora fleece includin the kemp fibres, and for the other thread 0 the fabric, which will be the war thread if the mohair yarn containing the emp fibre is used for the weft thread, I use a thread formed of two strands twisted together while subjected approximately to the same tension, one of which strands is a two-ply twisted strand with one of the plies of a light color approximating the color of 1931. Serial 1T0.

is of a arker color, the lighter-colored ply being loosely twisted into the strand. The other strand is also of a darker color and will preferably be a single-pl strand. When these. two strands,'to wit, t e two-pl strand and the single-ply strand are twiste er under substantially the same tension the resulting warp thread will be a three-ply thread, one ply of which is loosely twisted into the thread and is of a light color approximating the color of the kemp fibres.

When the fabric is woven with a thread of this type the loose light colored ly of the thread becomes forced to the sur ace of the fabric to a greater extent than the other plies during the beating up operation and this gives the fabric a sort of raised surface effect which is desirable for many purposes. Moreover, since thisloose ply which produces the raised effect is "of a white color or a color or shade corres onding approximately to that of the kemp bres, the result is that this lightcolored ply which thus shows on the face of the fabric serves to break up the streaky appearance due to the presence of the kemp fibres in the mohair yarn of the fabric thereby producing a fabric which is excellently suited for the manufacture of summer clothing and which is considerably less expensive than one using a mohair yarn from which the kemp fibreshave all been removed.

In order to give an understandin of the invention I have illustrated more or ess diagrammatically in the drawings some of the steps of making my improved fabric and the fabric itself.

Figs. 1 and 2 show the two strands which are twisted to ether to produce the warp thread, Fig. 1 illustrating the two-ply strand carrying the loose light-colored ply, and Fig. 2 showing the single ply strand of a darker color; a

Fig. 3 illustrates the completed warp thread;

Fig. 4 is a view of the weft thread containing the fibres of the Angora fleece including the kemp fibres;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged diagrammatic view illustrating the fabric, the threads of the togethfabric being widely separated to better show the invention; I

As stated above I propose to use for either the weft thread or the warp thread of the fabric, but preferably for the weft thread, a yarn which is made from, or at least contains, the fibres of the Angora fleece, and which for convenience, I will refer to as the mohair yarn. This yarn contains not only the soft silky fibres of the fleece but also the coarse kemp fibres which are usually combed out of the fleece when making high grade mohair yarn.

The mohair yarn containing the kemp fibres is indicated generally at 1 in Fig. 4 and the coarse or kemp fibre in the yarn is shown at 2. This yarn 1 may be made entirely of mohair or may have some other fibres mixed with the mohair material, and, as stated above, this yarn 1 containing-the kemp fibres 2 is preferably used for the filling or weft thread of the fabric.

For the war thread of the fabric I pre- .fer to use a t read made of two strands plies or threads 5 and 6, the thread or ply- 6 being lighter in color than the thread 5 and more loosely twisted into the strand.

In the forming of the strand by doubling these two plies together the light colored. ply or end 6 will be fed into the doubling machine somewhat faster than the ply or end 5 so that when the two-ply strand 1s completed the darker colored thread or ply 5 will" be considerably straighter than the loose ply 6. Because of the looseness of the ply 6 and the extra length thereof said ply will have somewhat the appearance of being loosely twisted about the darker-colored ply 5.

After the two-ply strand 4 is thus made, it and the single-ply strand 3 are twisted together to make the complete warp thread indicated at 7 in Fig. 3 both strands 3 and 4 being maintained under substantially the same tension during the doubling operation. The completed warp thread will therefore comprise three plies, i. e. the two darker colored plies 3 and 5 and the lighter colored ply 6. Since the lighter colored ply 6 is loosely twisted into the two-ply strand 4 and since the two strands 3 and 4 are subjected to the same tension when they are twisted together said ply 6 will still retain its looseness in the completed warp thread 7.

Because of the fact that the loose ply 6 is first twisted into the two-ply strand 4 and said two-ply strand is subsequently twisted with the single-ply strand 3, the loose ply 6 will have a more or less irregular position in the completed thread 7' and will be raised at intervals at the surface thereof. This loose ply 6 is of a light color, preferably a color corresponding to the .white color of the kemp fibre 2.

The cloth 8 is woven from these two threads 1 and 7 in any usual way but, as stated above, the mohair thread 1 is referably used for the weft or filling threa while the plural-ply thread 7 is used for the warp thread.

When the filling is beaten up during the weaving operation the loose light colored ply 6, because of its loose condition, will be forced to the surface of the fabric to a greater extent than the other or tight plies 3 and 5 and the surface of the fabric will consequently have a somewhat rough or raised appearance caused by the portions of the loose ply 6 which become crowded to the surface as each pick of filling is beaten up. The presence of these portions of the loose ply 6 on the surface of the fabric not only gives the fabric an attractive appearance but it also breaks up any streaky appearance caused by the presence of the kemp fibres in the mohair yarn and the result-is a fabric which is eminently suited for summer clothing and which has all the advantages of the fabric described in my above-mentioned patents.

The color or shade of a fabric embodying the present invention may be varied either byvaryingthe color or shade of the relatively tight plies 3 and 5 of the warp thread or byusing as a weft thread a mohair yarn which is spun from tops having mixed therein fibres of a darker color than the natural mohair fibres, or by both methods combined. In making the plural-ply warp thread, however, it is desirable that the loose ply should always be of substantially the same light or white color as the kemp fibres of the Angora fleece.

The darkening of the shade or color of the mohair yarn 1 may be accomplished either by mixing with the mohair fibres from which the yarn is spun a fibrous material, such as wool fibre, cotton fibre, silk fibre, etc. of a color darker than the natural mohair fibre or by making the mohair yarn of mohair fibres part of which have been printed or dyed but which still contain the kemp fibres. A satisfactory mohair yarn could be made by spinning the yarn from tops which contain approximately 25% of printed or dyed mohair fibre, the remainder of the mohair fibre being of a natural color.

I claim.

1. A woven fabric in which the weft threads contain the fibers of the Angora tit fleece including the kemp fibers and in which the warp threads comprise two strands twisted together under substantially the same tension, one of said strands bein a two-ply twisted strand, one of the plies of which is of a light color corresponding to the .color of the kemp fibers and has a looser or less straight twist than its complemental ply, the compleinental ply and the other strand being of a darker color than the said light colored ply, and the said looser ply of light color by reason of its looseness and of the twisting of the two strands together under the same tention being raised at intervals at the surface of the warp thread beyond the relatively tight plies, and in which a distinctive rough or raised surface appearance characterizes the fabric due to the forcing of the loose 'ply to the surface to a greater extent than the relatively tight plies and in which the light color of the loose ply appears at the surface of the fabric to a sutlicient extent to break up the streaky appearance otherwise caused by the presence of the kemp fibers in the weft threads.

2. A woven fabric in which the weft threads contain the fibers of the Angora fleece including the kemp fibers and in which the warp threads comprise two strands twisted together under substantially the same tension, one of said strands being a single ply strand and the other being a two-ply twisted strand, one of the plies of the two-ply strand being of a light color corresponding generally to the color of the kemp fibers and having a looser or less straight twist than its complemcntal ply, the said complemental ply and the single ply strand being of a darker color than the light colored ply, the said looser and lighter colored ply by reason of its looseness being raised at intervals at the surface of the warp thread beyond the two relatively tight plies, and in which a distinctive rough or raised surface appearance characterizes the fabric due to the forcing of the loose ply to the surface to a greater extent than the relatively tight plies and in which the light color of the loose ply thus forced to the surface acts to break up the streaky appearance otherwise caused by the presence of the kemp fibres in the weft threads.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

W. S. NUTTER. 

